Response of the turbidity maximum zone to fluctuations in sediment discharge from river to estuary in the Changjiang Estuary (China)

In the Changjiang Estuary, interactions between the sea and the river result in the development of a turbidity maximum zone (TMZ). Riverine sediments are an important source for TMZ formation. Since the 1960s, sediment discharge from the river basin to the estuary has decreased due to dam construction, water and soil conservation, and water diversion projects. Thirty-two Landsat images of the estuary, covering the period from 1979 to 2008, were collected to identify the TMZ response to sediment decline. A threshold value of suspended sediment concentration (SSC) of 0.7 kg/m3, corresponding to a spectrum reflectance of 5% of Landsat MSS band 7 and 7% of Landsat TM/ETM band 4, was used to identify the Changjiang Estuary TMZ. The TMZ area was then extracted from each image to investigate its temporal and spatial variations during the past 30 years. The images were grouped into five time series; the average TMZ area of each series was estimated. The results show that the TMZ area declined 23% from series (a) to series (e), responding to a 77% reduction in riverine sediment discharge. In addition, the TMZ had strong seasonal and tidal variations; it was generally larger during flood seasons than during dry seasons and during spring tides compared to neap tides. The spring/neap tidal cycle played a more important role in TMZ change than did the seasonal cycle. Due to the continued reduction of sediment discharge to the estuary resulting from dams already constructed and to those that will be constructed upstream in the Changjiang River, it is predicted that the TMZ area will continue decreasing and that the re-suspension of local sediments will play a more important role in the formation of the TMZ.